


At the Old Cataract Hotel

by tinydooms



Category: The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), The Mummy Series
Genre: Aftermath, Dealing With Trauma, F/M, Family, Gen, dealing with shock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29383386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinydooms/pseuds/tinydooms
Summary: Alex can barely let her go, cannot let her out of his sight, clings to her, and Evie cannot forget that he watched her die this morning. Rick, too, is glued to her side, and Jonathan watches her closely. They are all so gentle with her, brushing her arms, her shoulders, whenever they get near, looking at her as though she might disappear.A family deals with the aftermath.
Relationships: Evy Carnahan O'Connell/Rick O'Connell
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	At the Old Cataract Hotel

**At the Old Cataract Hotel**

_The Old Cataract Hotel, Aswan, May 1933_

Izzy Buttons flies them to Aswan after the events at Ahm Shere, the dirigible limping into the local airfield as day turns to night. Rick takes Alex, half-asleep, into his arms and carries him like a much younger child to the taxi that Jonathan orders. He does not make his usual half-hearted protest about there being cheaper hotels that are just as nice when Jonathan tells the driver to take them to the Old Cataract, and Evie looks at him, worried. They are all exhausted and a little shell shocked from the day’s events, let alone the whole ordeal, but Rick is being unnaturally quiet, as though to speak would lead to a loss of control and a return to the tears of that afternoon. Evie knows Rick body and soul, and before today she had never seen him cry like he did on the dirigible once it was all over, sobbing in her arms as though his heart would break. She keeps her hand on his arm as they jostle into the taxi. Rick finds her hand and holds it, lets his head droop against hers. They hold Alex between them. Safe and alive. They are safe and alive. 

The staff of the Old Cataract Hotel are too professional to react to the state of the Carnahan-O’Connells. It is Jonathan who arranges for a suite to sleep in and dinner to be sent up; somehow he is the most coherent of the lot of them. A steward brings up their travelling bags and a platter of sandwiches. Evie sits down with Alex on her lap and eats sandwich after sandwich, washing them down with small beer. How glorious it is to have her little boy in her arms again, to have him safe and unscathed. But Alex can barely let her go, cannot let her out of his sight, _clings_ to her, and Evie cannot forget that he watched her die this morning. 

Rick, too, is glued to her side, and Jonathan watches her closely. They are all so gentle with her, brushing her arms, her shoulders, whenever they get near, looking at her as though she might disappear. 

“Come here, all of you,” Evie says at last, and puts her arms around her family. They cling to each other for a long time. “I’m alright,” she says, engulfed by her menfolk. “I have a lot to say about what happened, but you don’t need to be afraid for me. I’m not going anywhere. Got it?”

They nod, all of them a little teary, and Jonathan makes some quip about the botheration of little sisters, and they break apart. They are so tired. 

Evie runs Alex a bath before bed. He needs it, poor little kid; no one bothered to do more than feed him this past week and Alex is a smelly boy. Evie rolls up her sleeves and scrubs him and for once her son doesn’t splash and howl _“Muuuuum!”_ as she does. Rick sits in the doorway holding Alex’s pajamas, unwilling or unable to let his family out of his sight. And when Alex is dried and dressed, they tuck him up in bed in the room he’ll share with Jonathan and sit with him until he falls asleep. 

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Jonathan murmurs as Rick and Evie return to the sitting room. “You two go and get some sleep.”

Evie hugs her brother, squeezing him tight. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Jonathan says. He nods towards Rick. “Look to that one.” He looks them over, smiles a little. “Good night, both of you. I love you.”

He disappears in the direction of his bed and Evie turns to Rick. His face is drawn, haggard with exhaustion and remembered horror. He looks at her like she is priceless, as though he can’t believe, even now, that she is alive, that she came back. He looks like a man who dreads waking from a beautiful dream. 

“Come,” Evie says, and taking his hand, leads Rick into the bathroom. 

She turns the taps and, as water spills into the huge tub, pulls Rick into her arms. She unbuttons his shirt and tosses it aside; Rick, realizing her intention, fumbles with her own clothes. Evie takes him right there on the bathroom floor, climbing onto Rick and holding him close. Their coupling is swift and hard, both of them are crying as they come together, matching each other thrust for thrust. At last Rick leans his head into Evie’s shoulder, panting. 

“We’re alive, my darling,” Evie murmurs. “Do you believe it now?”

Rick nods, slipping his hands over her body, finding the thin white scar on Evie’s belly, the place where she was killed. His tears fall warm on her shoulder. 

“I love you,” he whispers. “I love you.”

“I’ll never leave you again,” Evie replies. “Rick. I’ll never--never again---”

“You can’t know that.” Rick looks at her with such pain in his eyes. “You can’t make that kind of promise.”

Evie holds his face. “Then I promise that I will love you forever, and that I will be careful. Okay?”

She needs to tell him about who she saw, and what they said, while she was dead, but now is not the time. Instead they climb into the tub together. They are filthy and beyond exhausted, and it is good to wash away the dirt and grime of the past few days. They wash each other’s hair and bodies, scrubbing away the sand and sweat and gently washing their scrapes and bruises. It soothes them both to take care of each other, to work shampoo into each other’s hair and scoop water over backs and shoulders. Rick is especially battered, and when they rise from the tub Evie wipes him down with iodine and ointments as well as lotion. Looking at the bruises blanketing his body, Evie shakes her head. 

“You didn’t expect to survive this, did you?”

“I’m not sure I wanted to in the moment,” Rick replies, his eyes still a little horrified. “I couldn’t think clearly, I--that _bitch_ murdered you and I--I couldn’t think, I couldn’t--”

Evie gathers him close. “It’s okay, my darling. I’ve got you.”

She wants to tell him that she knows they will be fine, and she wants to tell him how she knows that, but now is not the moment for it.. They are both too tired tonight. And so they dress in clean pajamas and climb into the big hotel bed and wind themselves together until there is no room between them. There will be time for talk in the morning. Rick is asleep as soon as he lays his head on Evie’s breast. She holds him close and breathes him in, and sleeps. 

Author's Note: this is part of a series of four fics, dealing with the events at Ahm Shere, specifically Evie's death and resurrection. I wrote this part to answer a prompt on Tumblr, but the rest will be posted eventually. I hope you like it! Please leave me a comment and let me know. :-)


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